Game, Set, Match
by Eek's Bubble
Summary: AU. Callie and Arizona are both professional tennis players and meet when Arizona joins the tour. Will romance blossom or is Callie too focused on being a champion to let a relationship get in the way?
1. Chapter 1

**So I got ridiculously excited when someone sent me my first ever prompt (Gay as a tennis player) that I had to write something immediately and this is what I came up with. Because I've got two other stories going on at the moment, it was supposed to be a one-shot but then the idea started flowing and I now have a multi-chapter fic mapped out. Oops! I'll only post the story if there is interest though. **

**It's AU. Callie and Arizona are both professional tennis players. It should also be noted that my knowledge of tennis is from watching and not playing, so I plead creative licence on any mistakes. **

"Um, Miss Torres?"

Callie looked up from the dresser she was sat at, she was currently having her make-up and hair done before her first interview of the tournament, not just any tournament, the U.S Open at Flushing Meadows. She found a woman looking at her, with a piece of paper in her hands.

"I was asked to pass a message on to you from Mark Sloan?", the woman said.

"Thanks" Callie said holding her hand out for the piece of paper.

At this point the woman began to look increasing nervous, "Mr. Sloan specifically instructed me to read the message out loud to you so he can be sure that you just don't throw the note in the trash without reading it".

Callie just sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Fine go ahead". She knew there was no point in arguing with her agent. He was a royal pain in the ass but he was the best in the business and Callie couldn't deny that.

The assistant took a nervous breath and began to read the note. "Do not talk about your personal life, not that you have one. Do not talk about what you think of other girls on the tour, calling them bitches will not increase your popularity. Do not talk about your friendships with some of the male tennis players, they will think you are screwing one of them and then you'll never git rid of the paparazzi".

"That's it?" Callie asked. Usually Mark felt the need to be a lot more explicit in his instructions.

The woman just smiled weakly and passed her the rest of the note.

DO NOT TALK ABOUT YOUR PERSONAL LIFE

DO NOT TALK ABOUT YOUR PERSONAL LIFE

DO NOT TALK ABOUT YOUR PERSONAL LIFE

DO NOT TALK ABOUT YOUR PERSONAL LIFE

DO NOT TALK ABOUT YOUR PERSONAL LIFE

DO NOT TALK ABOUT YOUR PERSONAL LIFE

Callie just laughed and passed the note back to the woman, "I think I've got the picture. Thanks". Before she could do anything further, the producer had called her into the room and introduced her to the interviewer. As the camera panned to her for the first time, she once again put on her professional mask.

"Callie, it's been quite a year for you. Your first Grand Slam victory at the Australian Open followed by a disappointing third round defeat at Rolland Garros. Then injury curtailed your chances of a Wimbledon title at the semi-final stage. How are you feeling both mentally and physically heading into the the final Grand Slam of the season?", the interviewer asked.

"I'm feeling good" Callie said. "It was great to win in Australia and its a moment I'll never forget. It was obviously a disappointment to lose at such an early stage of the French Open, in fact, the whole of the clay court season didn't go well for me at all and its a surface I really do need to work on because it just doesn't suit my natural game at all. Wimbledon was the biggest let-down because I felt in great shape until I got the injury. But on the flip side, I've been incredibly lucky to get to twenty-five and have that be the first time I've missed a major tournament so I have to be thankful for that. Anyway, my ankle is fully healed now and I'm very much looking to the start of the tournament".

"Well, your fans will certainly be pleased to hear that. What do you think of your opponent for your first round tie? It pits you against qualifier April Kepner who you've never lost against, you must be feeling pretty confident?".

Callie frowned slightly at the disrespect the interviewer was showing to her opponent. "Past history means nothing. She's a solid player who has the advantage of having already gotten a few matches under her belt because she's had to go through qualifying. I know I'll have to play well to beat her but I'm confident in my ability and hopeful of a win".

The interviewer nodded before moving on to his next question. "What do you have to say to certain sections of the media who have dubbed the U.S Open as your Achilles heel?".

Callie sighed inwardly. This question came every year. "It's an easy bandwagon to jump on" Callie said, "I've had chances here in the past that I should have taken but didn't and I can understand why it's frustrating for fans who want to see a home player win. At the end of the day, I'm the only one who can show that this tournament is not my Achilles heel and I fully intend to prove that this time around".

"Okay then, last question as I know you're eager to get to practice" the interviewer began. "Your mother died in a car accident six years ago now. How has your life and game been affected by such a tragedy at a young age?".

Callie squirmed uncomfortably, never knowing how to answer those types of questions. "With all due respect, I like to keep my personal life private. Personal distractions just get in the way and I am fully focussed on the job in hand which is winning the U.S Open".

* * *

Having finished up with the interview, Callie changed and headed over to the practice courts to meet up with her coach. They had arrived a couple of days earlier than most of the players in the main draw so she passed a few courts that were holding the final qualifying matches for the last few spots in the tournament. She was surprised when she got to the practice court to find that it wasn't just Owen waiting for her but one of the other courts was occupied too.

As she made her way over to Owen she glanced over at the next court and immediately recognised the coach as Derek Shepherd. Derek had been one of her coaches at the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy in Florida when she was growing up, she sent a grin and a wave in his direction before turning her attention to the woman he was coaching. She hand medium legnth blonde curly hair that was tied back into a ponytail. She was wearing a red Stanford t-shirt and white shorts to train in.

She must have been looking a little to intently becuase Owen said, "like what you see?" with a smirk.

Calle chose to ignore that comment and instead asked, "who is she?".

"Her name is Robbins and she's been given a wild card. She also happens to be your practice partner for today" Owen said.

"She's not exactly a kid" Callie stated, "she doesn't look much younger than me". Callie was famous for picking a juniors to practice with her during tournaments, she didn't have a practice partner and wouldn't hit with anyone on the women's tour.

"That's because she's not, she's twenty-three and up until last year, virtually unheard of. Only the most die hard of tennis fans will know about her".

Callie nodded and despite herself asked, "so what's her story?".

"She didn't take up tennis until she was at college. Anyway Derek Shepherd picked up on her pretty quickly, he wanted her to go pro when she was eighteen but she wanted to finish school first so it wasn't until she graduated that she joined the tour. She's won a few challengers in the past year and is well on her way to earning enough ranking points to get into the qualifying stages for the big tournaments in time for next season. Inclusion at the US open will boost her ranking points nicely even if she does bomb out in the first round, the USTA know that, hence the..."

"...reason for the wild card" Callie finished. "Who's she got in the first round?".

"Dobrevka".

Callie just nodded. "I'm still not sure about this, even if she is a newborn she's on the tour now. That makes her a rival and you know I don't hit with any of the girls on the tour for that exact reason. Friendships muddy the waters".

"I know what you're saying but according to Derek, she's still raw material but he thinks she has the potential to be something special. It's a win-win situation for you Callie, you need a better work out that what the kids can give you and you can use this opportunity to scope her out a little. If she does live up the hype, then you'll have the edge over the other girls on the tour", Owen coaxed.

"Fine" Callie said. "But only because she's Derek's"

"Of course" Owen said with a smirk as he watch Callie check the blonde out for the nth time in ten minutes.

After a quick warm up with Owen and a discussion about her first round tie. Owen went over to catch up with Derek and sent the blonde woman over to Callie. For the first time, Callie got a decent look at the woman's face and was instantly drawn to her eyes, she didn't think she'd ever seen eyes like that before. She could only describe them as azure in colour, and they stood out remarkably against her golden hair and fair complexion.

"It's Robbins right?" Callie asked, feeling a little caught unawares.

"Yeah. Arizona Robbins, thanks so much for letting me hit with you, its a real honour" the blonde woman said brightly.

Callie rose her eyebrows slightly at the unusual name but wasn't going to say anything about it until Arizona caught her expression and interrupted.

"You can say it".

"Say what?" Callie asked.

"Whatever quip or question you had about my name. I've heard them all".

"My name is Calliope Iphegenia, I'm in no position to judge" Callie said seriously, wondering why on earth she had just divulged that piece of information to a total stranger. "And as for it for it being 'a real honour' to work with me" she continued, "I'd lose that attitude right now if I were you. You are a member of the tour now and have earnt your right to be here. Show that level of naivety..."

"...I thought I was been friendly and polite, not naive" Arizona interrupted.

Callie just ignored her, "as I was saying, if you show that level of naivety on the court, some of the girls on the circuit will eat you alive".

"Are you one of those girls?" Arizona asked.

"Damn straight" Callie responded without missing a beat. "So then girl scout, are we going to hit or not because I don't have the time or the inclination to chat".

To Callie's surprise, Arizona just let out a tinkling laugh and picked up her racket before saying, "ready when you are killer".

* * *

An hour later they were done. Owen was right when he had described Arizona as raw around the edges but she was polishing up nicely under Derek's tutelage. Callie could already tell that the blonde's backhand was all natural, you simply couldn't teach a swing that beautiful.

"What do you think?" Derek asked as her watched Arizona talk to Owen.

Callie watched as Owen moved Arizona's legs to show her a better stance for returning serve before responding. "She has great feet, she'll do wonders come the clay season, that along with that backhand of hers... she'll do well once her all round game has been polished up".

As practice came to a close, Callie watched Derek and Arizona leave. The blonde woman chatting animatedly to Derek.

"Sure you don't like what you see?" Owen asked again.

Callie just picked up her bags and started walking, calling over her shoulder, "I'm focused, not blind!".

* * *

"You've got this Arizona", Owen encouraged. "Just remember what we discussed about her serve and its in the bag".

Arizona wasn't listening. Instead she was peeking outside, "there sure are a lot of people out there" she mumbled, suddenly feeling more than a little nauseous.

Owen looked over her shoulder at the crowd and just shrugged nonchalantly, "this is nothing compared to the show courts".

Soon both players were called onto the court and Owen wished Arizona a final good luck before heading off to his seat in the player's box.

Arizona had been quite fortunate with her first round tie, drawing her with a Russian player ranked just twenty places above her. Her fortune was all relative though, the fact remained that even out of all the players who had made the draw (whether is be through qualifying or outright rank), she was still the lowest ranked player out of them all. Only her performance in the challengers along with her late discovery story and piqued enough interest from the tournament organisers had earnt her a wild card and when she lost the first game to love, she was harshly reminded of that fact.

To her credit, Arizona was managing to hold on to her own serve with relative ease. The Russian relied heavily on her powerful and accurate serve as her other skills weren't anywhere near as well defined.

On top of one of the stands, Callie looked out over the match having decided to take a look to see how the match was going. She pulled on her headphones to listen to the match commentary as she watched.

"Well Robbins is holding her serve valiantly but she just can't get a handle on Dobrevka's serve and I fully expect the Russian to overcome Robbins in the event of a tie break, which is where it looks like this first set is heading" the commentator said.

Arizona's first real sight of a chance came when Dobrevka dumped her first serve into the net and the blonde knew from her research that the Russian's second serve wasn't nearly as dangerous. As the much slower serve came in, Arizona hit a forehand shot, judging the length perfectly as the ball landed square at the Russian's feet. Not able to move back quickly enough, the best Dobrevka could was to lift a shot into the air which Arizona swiftly put away with a smash.

"Love-Fifteen" said the umpire into his microphone.

This clearly unsettled the Russian as the crowed cheered loudly for a home player victory, screaming in frustration as she recorded her first double fault of the evening. An ace took the score to fifteen-thirty but some nice play at the net brought it to fifteen-forty, two break points for Arizona. She lost the first chance quickly by sending a return of serve long but got the break on the second chance with a gorgeous backhand down the line. All she needed to do was to hold her serve to take the first set and with the crowd cheering her on, that is exactly what she did.

From her vantage point, Callie found herself silently cheering Arizona on as the woman took the first set.

"Well, well, well" the commentator said. "Maybe this girl does have something about her after all".

"Maybe she does" Callie murmured to herself.

The second set was tight, neither woman getting anywhere near to to breaking serve, resulting in a tie break at six all.

The first few points of the tie breaker went to the Russian but Arizona was able to level it up once more only for Dobrevka to eek ahead little bit further. Arizona was tired, her first foray into the main circuit proving to be quite a learning curve for the blonde and as another serve flew past her, she looked to the skies with her hands on her hips for inspiration. When she spotted Callie watching the her, she watched as the Latina gave her a ghost of a smile before she returned to the match.

Feeling a renewed vigour that she attributed to a visit from the famous Callie Torres, Arizona went on to win the next four points in a row, bringing up match-point.

Arizona sent up a little prayer as the Russian's first service went long.

"Come on, come on" Callie found herself saying.

The second serve came towards her forehand side but Arizona moved quickly to push a backhand cross-court.

The speed of the movement caught Dobrevka off guard and she could only watch as the ball flew past her outstretched hand as the match was called in Arizona's favour.

To Arizona, it felt as though she had won the entire tournament and from the way Derek and her family were celebrating in the players box, they felt the same way too. Picking herself off of the floor where she had dropped to in surprise at having won the match, she quickly moved over to shake hands with Dobrevka and the umpire before sending a shy wave to the crowd who were cheering. Sending a grin to her family, she quickly remembered Callie up in the heavens but looked up to find that she had gone.

Hours later, having made her way through autograph signing, a warm down, post-match interviews and some food with Derek and her family, Arizona was exhausted but thoroughly exhilarated.

As she made her way to her hotel room, she stopped as she saw a post-it note stuck on her door. Peeling it off, she smirked as she read:

**Not bad for a girl scout**

* * *

The next morning, Callie was up early for her morning practice. The courts were always busy with players, coaches and press once the tournament started but she could always guarantee that the courts would be empty at 5am. She was disgruntled to find that this wasn't the case this morning but her inconvenience turned to interest when she saw that it was Arizona out practising.

Making her presence know Arizona gave a full dimpled smile when she saw who it was. "Well if it isn't the killer. You're out early?".

"As are you. Congratulations on the result by the way. I guess you have a little more gumption than I gave you credit for", Callie said as she approached the blonde.

"It's all a part of my master plan" she said. "I act all sweet and innocent and girl scout like and then my opponents wont know what's hit them when I go for the jugular.

"Is that so?" Callie asked sceptically with a slight smirk.

"No. Not really" Arizona laughed. "My coach would love me to be that way though. Hardcore like you".

Callie just rolled her eyes and changed the subject. "So I don't usually see anyone out here at this time in the morning".

"I need to work on my return of serve. It was awful during the match yesterday", Arizona explained.

"Yes it was" Callie confirmed.

"Don't make me feel better about it or anything" Arizona grumbled sarcastically.

"I'm not here to feed your ego" Callie said harshly but then softened slightly as hurt flashed across Arizona's features. "But I am here to practice my serve, feel free to try and get on the end of some of them if you think you can" she offered.

"Really?" Arizona asked, perking up visibly at the offer. "Thanks!".

Callie just shrugged, "I'm not doing it for you. My first serve percentage was on 82% yesterday".

"How awful" Arizona mocked but Callie just ignored her.

For twenty minute the only sound that could be heard was the zip of tennis balls flying through the air until Callie called a temporary halt to proceedings.

"Stop" she said. "You need to learn how to read people better. The few few balls you are returning, is there any rhyme or reason to it or are you just guessing?" Callie asked.

"Pretty much just pot luck", the blonde panted.

Callie nodded in understanding. "That's the biggest step up from the challengers, the accuracy and speed of the serving. You'll need to get a handle on that and quickly".

"Are you going to give some pointers along with all the criticism?" Arizona asked.

"You have a coach for that. I'm not going to show you how to dissect my serve only for you to use it against me when you're a great player" Callie was about to go on when the blonde broke out another one of those dimpled smiles that she was getting so fond of. Not want to show this, she huffed and said, "what now?".

"You think, I'm going to be a great player" Arizona said happily.

Callie ignored her, something she found she was doing more often than not in the blonde's presence. "Why don't you go sit over there and watch me serve? I'm not going to give anything away but you can watch and try to guess my placement".

"Ooh good idea!"

Callie cocked her head to the side as she look at Arizona and said, you're kind of annoying, do you know that? Too perky".

Arizona just winked as she walked off to the side. "Whatever you say, killer".

**Thoughts?**


	2. Chapter 2

**Title: **Game, Set, Match  
**Author:** Eek's Bubble  
**Rating: **M (For future chapters)  
**Beta:** Arizona3311 (Thank you!)  
**Pairings: **Callie/Arizona  
**Disclaimer:** All movies, songs, and other copyrighted material referred to in this work and the characters, events, and settings thereof are the properties of their respective owners. As this work is an interpretation of the original material and not for profit, it constitutes fair use. Reference to real persons, places, or events are made in a fictional context and are not intended to be libelous, defamatory, or in any way factual.  
**Summary: **AU. Callie and Arizona are both professional tennis players and meet when Arizona joins the tour. Will romance blossom or is Callie too focused on being a champion to let a relationship get in the way?

**A/N: **Thanks for the positive feedback received for this story, especially considering I have two others on the go at the moment! Big thanks to Arizona331 for beta reading this. For those of you who are interested, the next chapter of Chance Encounters is currently being beta read and will posted once I've had it back.

Arizona sunk into her bed, exhausted from the day's activities. The natural high from yesterday's victory had seen her through countless interviews, her practice this morning when she got to observe the serving motion of Callie Torres but after that her energy had begun to wane. Despite this, she had tactics to discuss with Derek, more interviews and meetings with sponsors... so by the time she got back to her hotel room, she was exhausted.

Also, it wasn't helping that she was in pain. As an athlete, Arizona had always considered herself to be in pretty good shape but tonight, muscles she didn't even know she had were screaming in agony. The top ranked players on the tour all usually had their own physios or fitness coaches that would travel with them, whilst the lower ranked players would share the services of those employed by the individual tournament. As Arizona fell into the latter of those two categories, she had been forced to wait her turn for a massage after her match yesterday, all the while, her muscles had begun to seize up. If she ever broke into the top twenty, the first thing she was going to do would be to hire her own staff to travel with her she thought ruefully, wincing at even the slightest movement.

Too sore and too tired to move, the blonde was content to lie in the middle of the bed and not move a muscle. So when her cell phone started buzzing, Arizona could have cried. The bedside cabinet had never seemed so far away.

"Ow, ow, owie" she groaned as she reached over and grabbed the phone. She was considering just letting it go to voice mail, but when the caller ID flashed up as an international number, that thought was quickly pushed out of her head.

"Hello?" she said hopefully.

"You know something? _I_ helped deactivate an IED bomb yesterday, saved a bunch of kids in the local school from being blown to smithereens. _You _win a game of tennis and yet it's you that becomes headline news. Where's the justice in that?"

Arizona grinned at the teasing inflection in her brother's voice. "You know something?" she asked, turning the tables, "You getting up close and personal with an explosive isn't exactly following our deal of you not getting yourself killed."

Dismissing his sister's concerns, he said "Congratulations superstar. I'm ridiculously proud of my baby sister right now."

"Thanks" she grinned before her expression turned more sombre. "I've missed you. You are keeping safe aren't you?" she asked before adding in a teasing tone, "you don't call, you don't write..."

"I'm keeping as safe as I can be whilst in a war zone. Don't worry though, I have no intention of dying. I have big plans to live off of your fame as the gorgeous war hero brother of Arizona Robbins. I'm thinking a talk show or something like that."

Arizona laughed. It was an unspoken agreement between the two that on the few occasions her could telephone, they would keep the topics of conversation light. The blonde figured that Tim didn't want to relive the horrors he faced on a daily basis. His letters were the same, always filled with jovial tales of tricks played on various members of his units or the good things he had done."

"So give me the highlight reel of the U.S Open as experienced by Arizona Robbins." Tim said.

Arizona told him all about her win against Dobrevka, detailing some of her better shots. She talked about interviews and sponsors before mentioning how she had managed to have to two practice sessions with Callie Torres.

"Hold up" Tim interrupted. "I only have a few minutes left so lets get down to the important stuff. Just how hot is she in real life?"

The blonde let out a peel of laughter. "_So _freaking hot. Like you wouldn't believe." she confirmed as Tim let out a whoop. "Way out of your league though stud."

"What about your team?" Tim taunted. "You know what they say about tennis players."

Arizona just rolled her eyes before she remembered that Tim couldn't see her. "I don't think she's into girls unfortunately. No way to tell for sure though, she comes across as incredibly private."

After some noise in the background, Tim came back on the line. "I'm sorry sis but I've gotta go. I'm not going to wish you good luck for your next match because I already know that you're going to smash it. Send my love to Mom and Dad yeah?"

"Sure. Stay safe okay?"

She didn't let her brother go until he had promised that he would stay safe. She then tossed her phone to the side and went back to wallowing in her own self pity over her pain. Although she was feeling considerably less sorry for herself after speaking to Tim. Her brother was in Afghanistan facing who knows what each day while she was complaining over a bit of post match soreness.

* * *

"Also, the director wants to know if there is any particular junior you want for your next practice? I've heard good things about this kid from New Zealand, Collins I think her name is..." Owen said.

Callie shrugged, "I'll just go with Robbins again." she said nonchalantly.

Owen just smiled but didn't say anything about why she had become so partial to hitting with the blonde. He already knew the answer. Instead he just said that he would go and speak to Derek whilst Callie hit the gym.

On her way down, she was stopped by a familiar voice calling her name.

"Torres!"

Callie turned and smiled as she saw Alex Karev jogging over towards her.

"Alex, how are you doing?" she asked referring to wrist injury that had kept him out of both the French Open and Wimbledon.

"Much better thanks, being injured sucks though man. My seeding has gone down the toilet and now I'm stuck playing Avery in the second round of a slam"

"Look at it this way" Callie soothed, "if you want to win, you'll have to beat the good ones sooner or later right?"

"I suppose" Alex grumbled. "How are things with you anyway? I saw you on the practice courts a few days ago but you were hitting with that Robbins chick..."

"Do you know anything about her?" Callie asked.

"She's hot" Alex responded. "What?" he added as Callie just rolled her eyes, "You asked me if I know anything about her. I know she's hot!".

"I was thinking something a bit less superficial Alex".

Alex just shrugged, "I know as much as everyone else, discovered late, rough diamond, potential to be the next golden girl of tennis, yada yada yada..."

"Right well thanks for the pearls of wisdom there but you haven't told me anything I don't already know"

"I've gotta get to the courts, if we both win tomorrow, how about a celebratory dinner?" he offered.

Indicating that she would like that, she headed into the gym.

* * *

"Up and at 'em Arizona you've got practice in half an hour."

"Noo" Arizona groaned. "I don't think I can this morning. The pain is horrible. Can I take it easy this morning and practice this afternoon?" she asked.

"Sure" Derek responded, causing his player to let out an audible sigh of relief. "I'll just go and tell Callie Torres that you're too sore to hit with her this morning."

That changed things.

* * *

"Who did you get in the second round?" Callie asked as she and Arizona warmed up leisurely.

"Meredith Grey" Arizona said.

Callie just nodded. "Well with such a low rank you were always going to get a high seeded player sooner rather than later".

"Yep. Any pearls of wisdom?"

"She's lazy... doesn't like to move around the court if she can help it. Use the full length and breadth of the court to move her around and tire her out. She's not a power hitter like Dobrevka is so you won't have to worry so much about being muscled off the court. That being said, she's not ranked at number five for nothing, she's got a great range of shots that you'll have to deal with."

Arizona nodded thoughtfully as she took all the information in before they got to work.

They had only been playing for a few minutes when Callie stopped. She realised that Arizona was still struggling to get a handle on her serve but unless the ball landed within a yard either side of her, she wasn't even trying to return it. Every time the blonde did get her racket to the ball, Callie would notice how she would grimace in pain.

The Latina walked to the net, "Are you injured?" she asked, a trace of concern in her voice.

Arizona hobbled towards Callie and replied, "Not injured per se..."

"You looked fine yesterday morning but now my seventy-six year old Grandmother could move better than you right about now" Callie noted as she watched Arizona gingerly take a sitting position on the floor.

"Yeah, well... I think the combination of the hardest tennis match of my life, combined with having to wait two hours for a rub down may have contributed to my downfall" she said weakly.

"You'll get steamrollered by Grey tomorrow if you're still like this" Callie stated.

"I think I'm going to get steamrollered regardless"

"That's the fighting spirit" Callie quipped sarcastically. Signalling to the nearest court attendant, she said quickly, "would you mind arranging for a junior to come down here and train with me please?" Just as she was about to say something further, the blonde interupted.

"No! I'm good... I'm fine... I can play" she urged as she attempted to stand but any further argument she might have in her was quelled with one raised eyebrow from Callie.

The Latina continued as though she had never been interrupted. "I'll be leaving and won't be back for another twenty minutes or so. I'd be grateful if you could hold the court?". She thanked the attendant when he indicated that there would be a junior player waiting for her on this court in twenty minutes.

Returning her attention to Arizona, she grabbed the blonde's bag and hauled it over her own shoulder. "Come with me" she instructed. Rolling her eyes slightly as Arizona let out a whimper of pain whilst attempting to stand. She held out her hands and pulled the blonde to her feet, "don't be a baby" she scolded lightly, "you'll feel worse pain than this in your first full season, especially when you start making it to the latter stages of a tournament".

Five minutes later, Arizona found herself being pulled into one of the private treatment rooms where she found a petite African American woman sitting as though she was waiting for them.

"Arizona, meet the woman who keeps me from looking and feeling like you do right now. This is Miranda Bailey" Callie said. "Miranda this is Arizona Robbins and she has the biggest match of her career so far tomorrow, you think you can work some of your magic?" she asked the diminutive figure.

"You know it" she said whilst eye balling Arizona. Never one to get up in other people's business, she was still shocked. Callie Torres was competitive to the very last and here she was helping another girl on the tour get fit for a match?

Callie gave a nod of thanks before leaving to return to her own practice.

"So" Bailey said to her new subject, "what hurts?"

"Everything" was Arizona's only response.

* * *

Entering the food hall later that day, Arizona helped herself to some pasta and fruit. A couple of the girls she knew from the challenger circuit waved or said hello as they passed by. As she moved towards a free table, Arizona spotted Callie sitting in a far corner alone and made a beeline for her instead.

Walking over, Arizona tried to get Callie's attention but the Latina had headphones in as well as being engrossed in a book. Even as Arizona took a seat at the table, Callie didn't stir from her reverie. It wasn't until Arizona hit her in the face with a grape that her head snapped up.

"Hi!" Arizona said brightly. "I just wanted to thank you for loaning Bailey's services to me, she was amazing."

"So you thank me by throwing fruit at me?" Callie grumbled as she pulled the headphones out of her ears and put down the book.

"Are you always this grumpy when a friend comes to sit with you?"

"Oh is that what we are, are we?" Callie asked with an amused expression.

"Sure" Arizona said as she tucked into her food. "How else would you describe us?"

"A pain in my ass" Callie muttered under her breath, not loud enough for the blonde woman to hear her.

"What was that?"

"Nothing"

"Uh huh" Arizona said, her eyes narrowing slightly before shrugging it off. "Anyway, you should be grateful, I'm an awesome friend to have."

Callie raised an eyebrow, "Is that so?"

"Yep".

Callie had a feeling that having a friendship with Arizona would involve picking her battles wisely but that still didn't change her feeling on friendships with girls on the tour. Arizona was perky and had pink shoelaces, she was also hot. Like really hot but that only made for another reason why a friendship was a bad idea. "Honestly girl scout, you and I are like chalk and cheese" she said. "You're..." she searched for the right word, "... chirpy. I'm badass, hardcore...".

"Hey! I can be badass and hardcore!" the blonde insisted.

"Oh yeah? Tell me how exactly you are badass or hardcore."

Arizona thought for a moment before she had an epiphany. Standing up, she moved closely to Callie and pulled her tracksuit bottoms down to reveal a tattoo just below her hip.

Callie swallowed heavily at the sight of Arizona's exposed bikini line, she resisted the urge to touch the expanse of creamy skin on display. Instead she occupied her hands by grabbing her drink instead.

"Ha!" Arizona declared triumphantly. "Tattoos are totally badass" she said.

"Not when it's a a butterfly" Callie dead panned.

"I like butterflies" the blonde mumbled.

Callie tried a different tact. "You really don't know anything about me. What makes you so sure I'm worth having as a friend?"

Arizona seemed to take this as a challenge. "When I was in my last year of high school, my Dad told me that if I got into a good college, then he would take me to a Grand Slam match. Anyway I got into Stanford and I was so psyched thinking that he was going to take me to flushing meadows but instead he took me to London to Wimbledon instead, I can't even begin to tell you how excited I was . Anyway, it was the second day of the tournament and we had great seats on number one court. It was your first full season on the tour and there was already quite a bit of buzz about you because of what you had done at junior level. So you were the second match and my Dad and I were looking forward to seeing you in action. I was so shocked that when, every time a ball boll would pass you your towel or throw you a ball you would thank them. And I mean like every single time you would do it. My Dad said that it wouldn't last. That you would change with success but then I saw you play Yang in Miami last year and you are still doing it".

Callie looked a little dumbfounded so Arizona continued.

"It's other things too" she said. "Like regardless of the scoreline, you always wait for your opponent before leaving the court. You sign so many autographs. You always give your racket to a ball boy or girl and after every win, you throw a kiss up to the sky. All that tells me plenty about the type of person you are."

Callie still wasn't speaking.

"And now you think that I'm some crazy stalker" Arizona said, her face flushing furiously.

Callie shook her head. "I don't think that. The things you said, that's really nice but that still doesn't change things. When you've been on the tour a little longer, you'll understand why friendships in tennis aren't a good idea." Picking up her things, she gave Arizona a weak smile before departing the food hall.

Arizona stayed at the table. Having moved around so much during her childhood, she was used to being the new girl but she had always made friends easily but it still sucked. She had thought for sure that Callie and her could be friends but maybe she was just trying too hard because she thought the Latina was hot. Her thoughts were interrupted by a voice from the table next to her.

"I wouldn't take it personally if I were you."

Arizona looked up to find that it was Meredith Grey talking to her. She noted that Meredith was in very much the same position that Callie had been in, sitting alone with her iPod. Maybe tennis was an individual sport for a reason, Arizona thought to herself.

"Pardon?" Arizona asked to make sure that Grey was actually talking to her.

"Torres." Meredith explained. "I roomed with her quite a lot when we were juniors and she wasn't always like she is now."

"What happened to make her change? She seems so... closed off".

Meredith just shook her head. "I still consider Callie to be a friend, so if you're looking for someone to gossip about her with, you won't find it in me. What I will say though is that outside of tennis, she is a completely different person". Meredith stood up to leave, "I'd wish you good luck in your next round but under the circumstances, I'll just congratulate you on having gotten through to the second round instead". And like Callie before her, Meredith took her leave, leaving the blonde to her thoughts.

* * *

"Game, Set, Match – Miss Torres – 6-1, 6-2"

"Callie congratulations on a good straight sets victory that takes you through to the third round. What are your thoughts on the match?" The interviewer asked the minute Callie stepped off the courts.

Callie pushed a few loose strands of hair back from her face and said, "Well I think that it was definitely a closer run thing than the scoreline suggests on paper. In reality the games were a lot tighter. Still it's a good win and I'm happy with the manner of the victory." Waiting for the next question, she took a sip of water.

"You face Natalie Müller of France in the next round. You suffered a surprise defeat last time you faced her at Indian Wells. Will you be out for revenge this time around?"

Callie shook her head, "I'll be out to win in exactly the same fashion I would be against any player. Revenge doesn't even come into it. Müller played better than I did at Indian Wells and thoroughly deserved the victory. This time, I'll be doing all I can to ensure that I'm the winner."

With the interview wrapped up, Callie made her way to the dressing room. Before entering the shower, she glanced in the direction of the television to notice that Arizona had just leveled the match up to one set all against Meredith Gray. By the time she had showered and changed, she saw that both women were battling hard, deep into the final set. She smiled as she noted that Arizona appeared to have taken her advice as she worked Meredith all over the court as much as possible. Leaving the changing room to go for her usual post-match massage, she exited an hour later to find Owen waiting for her.

"Nicely done Callie!" he congratulated. "Have you had your massage yet because we've got a lot going on tonight. Mark has arrived in town, after your interviews, he wants to talk to you about some sponsorship stuff, Nike have offered to buy out your Adidas contract again I think and we could do with going over a few tapes before practice tomorrow... Callie?"

Callie had been distracted by the television in the corner and even though the sound was muted, she didn't need to hear anything to know that this was Meredith Grey talking in her post-match interview. Only the winning player had an interview immediately after the match had finished, meaning Meredith had won the match. She turned back to Owen when the television began to show her own post-match interview.

Filling Callie in, Owen said, "Their match finished about forty-five minutes ago. Ended in a tiebreaker in the third set. Real shame for Derek...". He stopped when he realised that he had again lost the Latina's attention as she began to walk away.

"Where are you going?" he called after her.

"There's something I need to do" she said over her shoulder before disappearing around the corner and out of sight.

Making her way to the changing room, she was about to walk in when the door swung open.

"Hey Callie"

"Meredith, hi" Callie said distractedly as she looked over the other woman's shoulder and into the changing room.

Meredith gave a knowing smile as she side-stepped Callie, patting her on the shoulder as she said, "She's been in the showers for half an hour. Maybe she thinks she'll drown if she stays in there long enough, I know that's how I felt when I lost my first match of a slam."

Callie nodded she knew the feeling Meredith was talking about. Moving into the changing room she didn't find any other girls in there, Arizona's match having been one of the last to finish beside her own. She could hear the running of water coming from one of the shower cubicles so she took a seat on one of the benches and waited. After fifteen minutes of waiting, Callie began to wonder if the blonde really had drowned herself.

Debating whether to go in and check on her, Callie was somewhat relieved when she heard the sound of the shower being switched off. Not long after Arizona appeared with a towel wrapped around her body, droplets of water falling from her hair.

Callie couldn't help but take in the blonde's semi-naked appearance. She really was beautiful.

Arizona stopped when she saw Callie, surprised to find her there. "Hey there killer", she said dejectedly.

"How are you?" Callie asked softly.

Arizona let out a sigh and took a seat on the bench next to Callie. "I keep thinking how in the grand scheme of things, a tennis match just isn't that big of a deal. I mean there are so many other more important things going on in the world... war, famine, disease. I know all that, but..." she tailed off hopelessly.

"It still hurts" Callie said, finishing the blonde's sentence.

"Yeah"

"What's the plan now?" Callie asked.

"Finish the rest of the season in the challengers. Derek seems to think that getting to the second round here will get me a spot in the qualifying rounds for Australia in January, especially if I can get some good results elsewhere before the season finishes".

Callie nodded. She was just about to say something when a knock came at the door and Owen poked his head through the doors, his hands covering his eyes.

"I'm sorry to interrupt ladies but the media is waiting for you Callie" Owen said as he ducked back out of the room.

"I have to go" Callie said.

"Go ahead. Good luck for the rest of the tournament, I'll be rooting for you".

Callie didn't respond to Arizona's well wishes. Instead she stood up and made her way to the door, "See you around girl scout" she said.

"Calliope? Can I ask you something".

Deciding it wasn't the best time to mention that she hated it when people used her full name, she chose to let it slide just this once. "Sure", she said.

"Why were you waiting for me when I was in the shower?"

Callie studied the woman in front of her, not sure that she knew the answer herself. "I thought you could use a friend" she said simply, "that's what we are right?"

For the first time since the match, Arizona let out a smile. Not the full dimpled grin that Callie had gotten used to seeing over the past few days but still, it was something.

"Yeah. Friends"

**Thoughts?**


End file.
